ByElizabeth Drake, Monitor contributorSeptember 23, 2012

F. Scott Fitzgerald was born in St. Paul Minn., on Sept., 24, 1896. In 1913, he enrolled at Princeton University and dedicated himself to writing, although he dropped out of school in 1917 to join the army. While training in Alabama, he fell in love with Zelda Sayre, the daughter of a justice of the Supreme Court of Alabama. After the war, he moved first to New York and then back to St. Paul, hoping to finish his first novel, advance his career, and attain Zelda’s love. "This Side of Paradise," a largely autobiographical story, was published in 1920 and met with instant success. Fitzgerald and Zelda married shortly thereafter. His second novel, "The Beautiful and the Damned," was published in 1922 and was as great a success as the first. While living in France, Fitzgerald wrote "The Great Gatsby," which is today considered his greatest work. Fitzgerald’s life began a steady deterioration after this book’s publication as he spiraled into alcoholism and faced long spells of writer’s block. Meanwhile, Zelda suffered mental health issues and was committed into several mental health clinics. In 1934 Fitzgerald published "Tender Is the Night" about a psychiatrist and a wealthy patient. He never finished his final novel, "The Love of the Last Tycoon," and died believing that he had failed as a writer. Today, Fitzgerald is considered one of the great American authors of his century.

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